peters



SAMUEL J.sEELY, OFNEw YonKjN. Y.

To all'whom tcofnccr'f Beit `known that I, SAMELV J. SEELY, of thecity, county, and State of New York,

have inventedfcertain new and useful Im-` provements'in Canal-Lock Gates ;V and I do hereby declare lthat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being hadlto the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which; Y

Figure l is a plan of a canal lock with a gate on my improved plan; Fig. 2 an elevation ofone of the flaps ofthe gate; Fig. 3 a vertical section takenatthe line A of Fig. l; Fig. 4 another section taken at the line 13,6 ofFig 1 5 and Fig. 5 ya planrepresenting a modification".

The same letters indicate like' the figures. f

As canal' lock" gates are generally con# structed andhu'ng it is found necessary to parts in all balance them'bya heavy vbeam projecting outward from the hinge post and opposite to eachflap of the gate. This vadds greatly to the weight and consequently to the friction ofthe gate, and obstructs the passage around the gate. Itis also necessary to have a separate foot bridge across the lock which is expensive and inconvenient; andV the wicket gates are too liable to leak and are otherwise defective.' But the most serious objection to the mode vof construction in general use is to be found in the fact that the two flaps have to be operated separately for opening and closing, and require from` four to six men to work them, and even with that amountof power the operation is very slow, and from the wantkof adequate control the gates are liable to serious injury from slamming ywhen the lock tenders are at all negligent.V These defects I have fully remedied by vmy 'invention *asproved by the test of experiment. And thefirst part of my said invention consists in connecting the journal at the upper end of `thehinge post of each flap of the gatewiththe masonry of the lock by means of a journal box connected by an adjusting screw, or: equivalent means', with a plate firmly secured to the masonry, so that the swinging of each flap of the gate can be readily adjusted, and the weight sustained withoutthe' necessity of a balance beam. And the second part of my said invention consists in suspending" the outer or swinging edge'fof each flap of the gateto the upper journal box by a diagonal suspensionY Gratuit-Lock` GATE.

specification of Letters Patent' No. 18,555', dated Novembere, v1857'.

fromone position andiwith better control of thegate "than byv any other plan before In the" accompanying drawings (a, '0)' represent: theI two flaps of the vgatecons'tructed yin the usualv manner Iso :farwas regards the frameworlr, and,L astheappendages ofI both flaps are alike, the description of 'one will eanswerfor both. The lowerend of the hinge post is providedwith ametallic 'plate and semi-spherical pivot (c) tted to a metallic step (d) properly secured in the mason work of theflock. The upper endyof the said post is properly formed` to receive aA metalplate (e) with a surrounding iiange, which plate is there secured by screws or other suitable means.' And from the top of this plate projects a central yjournal (f) which turns freely but accurately in the 'central hole vofthelower plate (g) of ja friction boli.` A wingA (it) projecting from the edge ofthe plate (g), isv fitted to slide in suitable ways` (z', i) on the top of a plate let into, and firmly secured to the coping of the mason work of the lock. The wing Vof theplate (g) and the' plate are connected, as represented, by an adjusting screw (7c) by means of which the plateV (g) with the journalof the gate flap can be moved in and out at pleasure to adjust the gate to its required position in the lock. And with the a cylindrical flange which ts snugly over` the periphery of the lower plate, and thef inner surface of these two plates have cor` responding annular grooves to `re`cei`v'e fricviv tion balls (n),for"these"surfaces'f'may' be f otherwise adapted to reduce the friction due to the weight which they have to sustain.

The upper part of the cap plate is formed with a bracket piece (o) through which passes one part of a diagonal suspension brace rod (p), which has a head on the upper end and a thread cut on the lower end to receive the nut of the swivel link by which it is connected with the lower part of the suspension brace rod. By this means the outer edge of the gate flap is suspended to the friction boX of the journal on the upper end of the hinge post, and as the friction boX is connected bythe sliding wing and adjusting screw with the plate secured in the masonry of the lock, the whole is firmly sustained without the necessity of a balance beam. The sum of the weight to be sustained is greatly reduced, as also the friction, and much room is saved, while at the same time the hinge post can be readily adjusted to its socket in the masonry by the adjusting screw which connects the friction box with the plate secured to the masonry,

f and the frame work of the gate can be readily cambered by simply turning the link nut on the diagonal suspension brace rod.

To the upper edge of one of the flaps of the gate is hinged one end of a cogged rack bar (r) which passes through a slot in the base plate (s) of a capstan, the said base plate being let into and firmly secured to the mason work of the lock. The capstan (t), which may be of any suitable construction, is provided with a pinion at the lower end to engage the cogs of the rack bar, so that by turning the capstan the gate flap will be readily opened and closed, and will be at all times under the control of the lock tender who will be able not only to give the required motions with much greater' ease than heretofore but will be able to avoid all injurious slam in closing. That flap of the gate which is connected with the capstan by the rack rod is provided with an arm placed either near the lower, or the upper edge, and the outer end of this arm is connected by a joint link (o) with the other iiap of the gate, so that the movements of one flap will impart a corresponding movement to the other. In this way the entire gate can be readily and efficiently either opened or closed by the simple turning of the capstan. p

Instead of the rack bar and linked arms, I propose as an equivalent to form the connection of the two flaps with each other and with the capstan by means of a chain as represented by red lines in Fig. 5 in which said figure the chain (a2) is represented as at` tached to the outside of one of the flaps (a) of the gate, passes around a sprocket wheel (b2) on the lower end of the capstan (t) thence over a guide pulley (c2) at the upper edge of the wall, down to and around another guide pulley (d2) at the bottom, and thence to the inside of the other flap of the gate to which it is attached. Another chain (c2) is attached to, and forms a connection with the two flaps of the gate in same manner as chain (a2), but in the reversed direction, and, instead of passing around a sprocket wheel on a capstan as the first chain, simply passes around a guide wheel f2) occupying the same relative position. From this it will be seen that by turning the capstan in one direction both flaps of the gate will be opened simultaneously, and by turning it in the opposite direction both {iaps will be closed, thus putting the gate entirely within the control of the capstan.l

A platform with a railing is secured by legs to the upper edge of each of the flaps so that when the gate is cl'osed the two platforms will form a foot bridge across the lock which bridge will however be opened and permit the free passage of tow lines when the gate is open.

The wicket gates (a, a) are formed each in the segment of a hollow cylinder, and the ends (b, b) in the form of sectors with the journals projecting therefrom, and fitted to suitable boxes. To the inner journals of the two wickets is secured a sector pinion (0') the cogs of Vwhich are engaged by the cogs of a vertically sliding rack bar (d), provided with another set of rack teeth near the upper end which are engaged by va sector pinion (e) so that by means of a hand lever or hand spike (f) the two wickets can be readily opened and closed.

On one side the lower edge of the openings, in which the wicket gates are placed, is curved out to correspond with the circular form of the wickets, and on the other side the edge of the said openings is beveled and on this beveled surface is secured to each opening a metal plate (g) with india rubber or equivalent elastic packing interposed, the edge of the said packing projecting so as to make a packed oint with the periphery of each of the wickets. And the upper edge of each opening is also packed in the same manner with a strip of india rubber or equivalent elastic packing held in place by a metal plate so that in closing the wickets their upper edges shall come in contact with the elastic packing and thus effectually shut out the water.

Having thus fully described the mode of construction which I have applied with success yI do not wish to be understood as limiting my claim of invention to the special form specified, but claim the privilege of modifying the same so long as I attain the same end by means substantially the same.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isl. The method, substantially as herein specifled of connecting the upper journals 1 of canal look gates to the masonry of the link and arm, or other equivalent means ,l lock by means of adjustable boxes substansubstantially as described, in combination tially as and for the purpose specified. with the connection with a capstan at the 2. I also claim suspending the outer or side of the lock by a jointed rack or other 15 i 5 swing edges of the gate to the upper ournal equivalent means, substantially as described boxes by diagonal suspension braces, in the and for the purpose set forth.

manner and for the purpose, substantially as SAML J SEELY specified.

3. I also claim connecting thevtWo aps Witnesses: l0 of the gate With each other so that the two WM. H. BISHOP, n shall move together by means of the joint J OEL B. WiLsoN. 

